About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 [1] (January 2, 2018)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthmbdos0001 and id is 1 raw text is: DefCongressional Research Service '~ ~ ~ qnomn the lenislateve debate sine 1914 Defense Primer: Military Officers 0 January 2, 2018 Grade and Rank The armed forces are hierarchical organizations with clearly defined levels of authority. The different levels for officers are defined in law and called grades, while rank refers to the order of precedence among those in different grades and within the same grade (e.g., someone who has been a Major for three years outranks someone who has been a Major for two years; see 10 U.S.C. §741). However, it is common for the term rank to be used as a synonym for grade. Pay grade is an administrative classification that determines certain rates of pay, but it is sometimes used to indicate grade as well. For example, a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy may be referred to as an 0-4. See Figure 1. Numbers and Roles Officers make up about 18% of the armed forces, with enlisted personnel making up the other 82%. Officers outrank all enlisted personnel. Table 1 below lists the number of active duty officers in each pay grade. Warrant officers (pay grades W-1 to W-5) perform highly technical or specialized work within their career field and also, in the case of the Army, serve as helicopter pilots. Warrant officers constitute about 8% of the officer corps. Company-grade or junior-grade officers (pay grades 0-1 to 0-3) typically lead units with several dozen to several hundred personnel, or serve as junior staff officers. They make up about 56% of the officer corps. There is no statutory limit on the number of officers in these grades. Field-grade or mid-grade officers (pay grades 0-4 to 0-6) typically lead units with several hundred to several thousand personnel, or serve as senior staff officers. They make up about 35% of the officer corps. There are statutory limits on the number of officers in these grades (10 U.S.C. §523). General or flag officers (pay grades 0-7 to 0-10) may lead units or organizations with several thousand to hundreds of thousands of personnel or serve as staff for the largest military organizations. General and flag officers make up just under 0.4% of the officer corps. There are statutory limits on the number of officers in these grades (10 U.S.C. §525-526a). Insignia As shown in Figure 1, each officer grade in the armed forces has distinctive insignia, typically worn on the sleeve, shoulder, collar, and/or headgear (caps, berets, etc.). Table I. Active Duty Military Officers by Pay Grade (as of September 30, 2017) Services Pay Grade Total Army Navy Marine Corps Air Force 0-10 II 9 4 13 37 0-9 47 39 20 41 147 0-8 120 64 26 91 301 0-7 131 98 36 153 418 0-6 4,107 3,160 642 3,313 1 1,222 0-5 8,756 6,629 1,892 9,751 27,028 0-4 14,850 10,631 3,857 13,292 42,630 0-3 29,281 18,561 6,028 20,968 74,838 0-2 11,010 6,595 3,386 6,651 27,642 0-1 9,135 6,990 3,158 7,324 26,607 W-5 553 79 107 0 739 W-4 2,085 380 291 0 2,756 W-3 4,078 648 601 0 5,327 W-2 5,458 585 832 0 6,875 W-1 2,174 0 231 0 2,405 Source: Department of Defense, Defense Manpower Data Center. www.crs.gov 1 7-570

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most